


Rather Be Alone

by coupe_de_foudre



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Social Anxiety, five gets nervous in crowds, kind of, klaus is there to help, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 22:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18647215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coupe_de_foudre/pseuds/coupe_de_foudre
Summary: “Hey,” Klaus started, “You look like you need a hug.”Five’s head snapped up, “Don’t you dare!”





	Rather Be Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a conversation in the [Klive server](https://discord.gg/nT7uaEb). Probably haven't done it justice but oh well. I'm too tired to care xD
> 
> All the love to [Coup_De_Tete](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coup_De_Tete/pseuds/Coup_De_Tete) for being so goddamn amazing <3 Pls go read his Klive fics, they're so cute!!
> 
> Title from Grow As We Go by Ben Platt.
> 
> Happy reading, snowflakes <3

“I’m worried about you.” Klaus murmured, bent to his brother’s height with enough subtlety to go unnoticed by the people surrounding them.

“I’m fine.” had been Five's response, grouchy and stubborn and definitely not fine. But Klaus knew better than to push him.

Resting a hand over Five's shoulder as he stands tall again, Klaus doesn’t meet his brother's gaze when he says, “You’re a terrible liar.” Five merely huffed, gritting his teeth and ignoring him.

That had been an hour ago though, and now Klaus was stuck in a conversation with some pretentious, rich pricks and no idea where his brother had disappeared to. Scanning the crowded room, he spotted his other siblings milling amongst the other party guests – Luther and Allison were listening to some old dude that looked like he'd crawled out from his grave to get here, Vanya was sat with a group across the room, and Diego was clearly dodging people that were trying to get his attention. Ben was a few steps away, looking around the room for Five.

When Klaus caught his eye, Ben shook his head. “No luck.”

“Great,” Klaus muttered, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be listening to a story someone had been telling.

“Excuse me?” the guest raised an eyebrow at Klaus, and Klaus raised his hands and smiled politely.

“Sorry, pardon me. Don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got something to attend to.” he said, already stepping away. “ _Great_ story, though.” And then he was slipping into the crowd of guests and searching the room for his missing brother.

“Real smooth.” Ben commented from his side, startling Klaus.

Throwing a stern look to Ben, Klaus headed to the edge of the room. “Shut up.”

“He’s not in here."

“Yeah, well, if he’s not in here then where’s he gone?” Klaus huffed, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Ben shrugged, “Probably went to find somewhere quiet." Sighing, Klaus realised that Ben was right. It wasn’t unusual for Five to seek isolation after being surrounded by strangers for more than an hour. He'd known that.

He’d just wished Five would at least let him know if he was going to disappear.

“Cover for me.” Klaus told Ben, pushing himself away from the wall.

“How do you expect _me_ to do that?” Ben questioned, waving his arms in a half-hearted shrug. “Where are you even going?”

“To find him.”

Ben snickered, “Yeah, good luck with that.” Ignoring his brother, Klaus slipped out of the room before anyone could pull him back into the crowd.

Once out of the stuffy room, the air immediately felt lighter. The constant noise of voices, music and the clink of wine glasses faded enough to make Klaus’ head feel emptier – leaving him room to think clearly.

No wonder Five preferred his own company.

There were still guests wandering around the building, but most of them paid Klaus no attention as he ducked his head into spare rooms and called out for his brother. After a good then minutes of searching and finding no trace of Five, Klaus considered the fact that the other may have left the building completely. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.

But, just as he’s heading back in the direction of the party, Klaus hears a small tapping sound. Off beat and barely audible, yet recognisable nonetheless.

Jumping down the last few steps, shoes landing noisily on the marble flooring, Klaus ducked his head under the staircase and found a small gap amongst some abandoned boxes. And sat, perched above one of said boxes, was the very person he'd been looking for.

Smiling wide when Five met his eyes, Klaus took a step closer. He noticed the way the smaller one was hunched in on himself, arms wrapped around his legs – which were pulled up to his chest – and his chin resting above his knees. His lower lip was bitten red, and his knuckles were close to white.

“Hey,” Klaus started, voice instinctively going soft as he stopped in front of his brother. “You look like you need a hug.”

Five’s head snapped up, hands pushing at Klaus’ chest – which only resulted in swaying the taller one ever so slightly. “Don’t you dare!”

Klaus chuckled, opening his arms and leaning closer. “C'mon, c'm'ere! Bring it in.”

“Klaus, I swear to-" he was cut off when Klaus finally wrapped his arms around Five's small frame, his face pressed into Klaus' chest and words becoming a muffled breath of air.

“That’s it,” Klaus smiled, running a hand soothingly through Five’s hair and fighting off a laugh. “That’s better. Isn’t it?”

“I hate you.” Five mumbled into his shirt.

“Love you too, sugarplum.” Klaus smirked, eventually pulling away to plant a sloppy kiss on the smaller one's forehead. That earned him a growl. But Five didn’t pull away again, and he allowed Klaus to take a seat beside him – long limbs hunched under the staircase, balanced precariously on top of a dangerously wobbling box.

They sat in silence together, for however long it was (Klaus didn’t have the patience to time it), listening to the distance sound of the guests gathered on the other side of the building. Five tapped his foot on the box, fingers clenching and releasing around his legs.

When Five let out a strangled sigh, Klaus watched as his face contorted into a deep frown. Nudging him lightly in the side with his elbow and resting a hand over his knee. “You wanna talk?”

Five exhaled sharply, a short laugh, and looked down at the ground. “I’m a mess.”

Klaus hummed, squeezing Five's knee and taking his hands in his hold. “That comes with the family name, pumpkin.”

Five scoffed, but he leant against Klaus and smiled when he ran his thumb over his paled knuckles. As Five nestled his head into Klaus' neck, hair tickling his face, the smaller one sighed a breath of hot air over his collarbone. “I'm gonna need more coffee.”

Snickering, one hand placed on Five's back and squeezing gently at the base of his neck – feeling tension ease from his shoulders – Klaus slid off the box. “One cup of coffee coming right up! Stay here, okay? I’ll be quick as a flash.”

He’s met with a familiar eye roll, a smile playing at the corners of Five’s mouth. “Yeah, okay. Whatever. Just make it speedy."

Exaggerating a cutesy, Klaus smirked. “Anything for you, my love.” Straightening once again, he placed a chaste kiss on Five's blushing cheek before all but running off in the direction of the refreshments.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any fluffy prompts please send them! I can't promise that they'll be written straight away but they're still appreciated either way.
> 
> Love you guys x


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